Roof flashing



A ril 25, 1933 L. VALLA R FLASHING Filed sep 1931 Patented Apr. 25, 1933LIONEL VALLLAS, OF CHICAGO, ILnInoIs ROOF FLASHING Application filedSeptember 3, 1931." Serial :No. 560,944.

My invention relates to flashings for roofs on buildings at the juncturewith parapet walls and chimneys; and has for its object the provision ofa flashing adapted to bese 5 cured in a crevice or joint in the wall orchimney and arranged to provide a water proof relation with the roofproper.

Another object of the invention is topro vide a [lashing which will notbetoo expensive in manufacture, while at the same time being reenforcedat the point where it isapt' to become broken or ruptured and where itis subject to wear. 1

Anotherobject of the invention is to pro- 5 vide a reenforcing elementwhereby the vari;

ous flashing sheets are firmly clamped together and said reenforcingclamping element formed so as to provide ashoulder on the upper face ofthe element adapted to pre- 9 vent seepage of water to the rear edge ofsaid element and hence to the rear side of theflashing. V j V Anotherobject of the invention is the provision of a metallic wedge member ofprearranged construction adapted for insertion in the crevice or jointin the wall orchimney whereby the flashing is firmly held in place; thewedge member being adapted to cooperate with the shoulder for effectinga binding relation betweenthe flashing and the wall or chimney. V a v vThe objects and advantages of my invention will be readily comprehendedfromthe detailed description of the I accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a por-y tion of a roof and a wall,with my improved,

flashing in place. 7 a

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a portion 40 of the upper end of myimproved flashing and wedge element in position.

Figure 3 is a sectional view of a portion of my flashing applied to aconcrete wall.

As is well known, theweakest point in a roof is at an up-turned angle,namely at the juncture between the roof proper and a chimney or at thejuncture with a parapet wall or coping. A majority of leaks occur atsuch places, due to improper construction of the flashing which preventsproper lapping relation with the roofing material; also because ofimproper protection or reenforcement'of the flashing at the point of itsin-- sertion in the wall or chimney crevice; and because of the factthat the inserted portion; of the flashing is not made to preventingress or seepage of waterto the rear. side thereof At the same time,difflculty has beenfencountered with the means heretofore employed forsecuring the ffiashing in the wall or chimney crevicefi y Lam aware thatflashings have been em-. ployed which have been provided withreenforcing plates folded back uponthemselves without, however,enfolding the pliable flash ing material therebetween so. as to firmlyclamp the reenforcing plates thereto; such flashings, however, providingno means for the clipsare forced into the wall crevice. ,0}

My invention is adapted toobviate the objections heretoforeeencountered.and consists in employing a numb-er of." strips or sheets of saturatedcanvas 5; 6 and 7, impregnated with a suitable water-proofing" ma 5terial; the various sheets being preferably of different f andpredetermined lengths in order that their interlapping points with theroofing material proper 8 may bedisposed at different places on the mainroof portion, as shown in Figure 1. j

The material or sheets 8, which constitute the main part of the roof,are preferably bent upwardly against the side of the chimney or fparapet wall indicated at 9 and disposed be tween the lower sheet 7 andthe intermediate sheet 6 of the flashing, withthe intermediate sheetextending on to the main portion of the roofandsealedthereto withsuitable material 10; while the outerfiashing sheet extends 7approximatelyto the point 11 andis sealed to the roof proper. I lowerflashing sheet 7 preferably extends beyondthe last mentioned point andbeneath.

the main roof 'materialapproximately' to the allf f the flashingsheets'and the main-roofing material are seal-ed together with asuitable.

point 12; it being understood, of course, that water resisting material.

The flashing sheets 5, 6

' provided with a vmetallic reenf'or'cing and protecting strip 13,preferably of aluminum of suitable gauge. This metallic strip extends.throughout the upper-longitudinal I edges of the flashing sheets. 5,6and "z and is bent longitudinally withthe flashing sheets 'therebctween'so as toprovide thebottom leg' or portion 14 and the upperfleg orportion'15'; thetwo. portions bei'ng'in turn'bent down wardly to providethe vertically disposed '7 fiange'portions 16 and17,,which protect thethe breakage or cutting bythe edges of the bent portions of the-flashingsheets 5, 6 and 7 at the wear encountering points, namely irom bricks orconcrete from which the wall or chimney is constructed; and'from theweather and moisture at theupper side of the bent]v part of theflashing.

Afterthe metal strip 1 about the'fiashing sheets 5, 6 and 7 the bentlongitudinal side of the metal strip, with the .enfo'lded flashingsheets, is then bent or curled upwardly onto itself by suitable ma'chinery,to provide the shoulder 18, there by firmly binding themetallic'cstrip to the upper longitudinal edges of the flashing sheets;the. enfolded shoulder portion caus ing the strip to be firmlybound ontothe flashing sheets.

1 Where thefiashing is torbeemploy-ed 7 against a brick wallorlchimney,the mortar between certain courses of bricks at aiproperdistance'above'the roof, is removed or raked out, asshown in Figure 1,sufficiently .to receive'the reenforced upper-longitudinal end ofthefiashing; the flashing being inserted into the raggle or crevice soas to have the lower flange portion 16 of the reenforcing strip flushwith the side Of'the wall or chimney as shown. 7 I f In order to firmlyhold and'l'ock the flashing in place, I provide the metal wedge members19;'a'suitable number of these wedge members being employed" at spacedapart points'throughout the width of the flashing. 7 Thesejwedge membersare preferably made "from spring steel sheets ofcomparative.

width,;' as shownlin Figure 2,1 bent into Va shape so a to provide thetwo "diverging. v sides 20 and 21 normally spaced apart at the free endssomewhat greater thanihe verti-' cal dimensions of the' raggleor crevicein the wall'or chimney. w

On the other hand, the

- shown.

7 V plicatio have their upper longitudinal edges 3' has been folded fThe side is preferably of somewhat greater width than the side 20' ofthewedge member 19, and this side 21 has its free lionv gitudinahedgebent slightly upward, as shown at 22; bothlongitudinal sideshavingcomparatively sharp. longitudinal edges as -After the fla-shing hasbee'n properly in sertedintoj the crevice,"the wedge member 19. isthendriven into place with asuitable ,t'o'ol in'serted into theapeXof-the member.

The free endflof thelower side 20 engages .the shoulder'18 of theflashing reenforcing; strip 13, and the wedge member 19 at its innerbent edge is caused" to tilt'upwardly and ride over the shoulder 18' inthe manner shown in the drawing, which 'inturn induces the edge of thelower side 20 to somewhat indent itself. in the metal reenforcingstrip13, while the upturned portion 22-of the upper side 21 will embed orforce itself into the brick above the crevice. It is appa rentthatthewedge member will thus firmly hold the-flashing in position. The crevicemay then again be filled with cementor mor- F tar or any other suitablebinding material.

- In Figure 3', I illustrate application of my improved flashingto acement or concrete wall 23 which, at a properfdistance above the roofproper, has been provided witha crevice or raggle 245 for the receptionof my 1 flashing, *which is similar; to-the flashing shown in Figures 1and 2 as heretofore described. I r With the-flashing provided with themetal binding constructed and arranged asjsho'wn and herein described,the sheets of flashing reenforcementand protection are-very essen tialand resistance to'the act on of rain and snow afforded. 2-

fabric are 'fully'protected at the bend where l Furihermore, by bendingthe inner longitudinal edge of the flashing-and reen'forcingstripinto fthe upstanding shoulder 18, the passage of water, which may seep throughI the re mOrtared crevice, to the rear side of the flashing, will be"prevented while at r the "same time this shoulder 18"acts as a stop forthefw'edge member whichrid-es into the-crev-j icein'the tilted mannershown, thuspermitting its inner edge'to ride over the shoulder'whilethe'forwardlower longitudinal sharp moisture proof, any seepageofwater there through will be prevented-from passageto I the rear of: thefiashing'by-"the shoulder 18. 7 I

As shown in the drawing,the wedge members are formed of sheets ofresilient metal of comparative length; the sheets being bent intoV-shape and preferably with one'leg or wider, the wedge member wheninserted into.

the crevice is caused to tilt upwardly as shown, the upwardly bentportion constituting a fulcrum point, which therefore induces the apexportion of the wedge memher to also engage with the wall at the top ofthe crevice, thereby providing three gripping portions to the wedgemember, with each gripping or contact portion disposed in a diflerentvertical plane, as it were, which prevents any possibility of lateralmovement of the wedge member. At the same time the sharp longitudinaledges of the two {legs or sides of the wedge member are brought intogripping or binding position, which, in practice, has been found makesshifting or accidental displacement of the wedge members impossible;while the position of the wedge members relative to the flashing proper,

is determined by the shoulder on the upper side of the inserted'portionof the flashing.

In practice preferably a number of wedge members are employed for eachflashing unit; but with the rigid binding along the upper edge of theflashing it is apparent that the full length of the flashing will beheld in place if only a single wedge member was employed.

I have shown what I believe to be the best embodiment of my inventionand have described-the same in terms employed merely as terms ofdescription and not as terms of limitation as structural modificationsmay be made without, however, departing from the spirit of my invention.

lVhat Iclaim is: v i

1. Flashing of the character described comprising a plurality ofsaturated sheets of fabric; a sheet metal reenforcing strip for theupper longitudinal edges of the fabric sheets, bent along a longitudinalline with the edges of the fabric disposed at said bend, the twoparallel sides of saidmetal'strip with the enfolded fabric sheets thenbent upward ly to provide a shoulder along the upper longitudinal edgeof the flashing; and a resilient wedge member adapted to ride onto saidshoulder into tilting position with one longitudinal edge in'bearingrelation with the upper side of the metal reenforcing strip while theother longitudinal edge is in binding relation with the upper side of acrevice in the wall to which the flashing is applied.

2. A flashing of the character described comprising a plurality ofsheets of fabric adapted to receive composition roofing materialtherebetween, a reenforcement for the upper ends of the'flashing fabricconsisting;

of sheet metal folded about the upper edges of the fabric; the sheetmetal, with the enfolded fabric, at the folded edge being bent upwardlyand onto the upper face of the" flashing to provide a shoulder;andwedge' members of resilient 'sheet metal to be dis posed'on top ofthe reenforced end withone longitudinal edge ain'engagement with "saidshoul'de'rwhile the other longitudinal edge is bentnpwardly 'to engagethe upper sideof acrevice in the ing is applied. a

3. a In a-flashing composed binding for the upper longitudinalsedge offabric, a metal so thereof composed ofa sheet of metal folded Aback'upon itself with the fabric therebetween if and the bentlongitudinal side with the fabricfthen bent back upontheupper side to Qprovide a shoulder onthe upper side of the flashing; andaV-shapedwedgemember of resilient metal adapted to be forced-into a'wall crevice ontop of said binding strip with I the apex of thewedgemember disposed horizontally while the upper side of the wedgemember is bent upwardly to'form gripping relation with the wall at theupper side of the crevice.

4. In a roof flashing, the combination of 5. In a roof flashing, thecombination of pliable flashing material, the upper end whereof isprovided with a metallic hinding strip of width greater than the extentof insertion of the flashing .in the crevice of a side wall, saidbinding strip at .its inner longitudinal edge being provided on itsupper surface with a shoulder;-with a Wedge.

member formed from a sheet of resilient metal bent into V-shapeandadapted to be forced into the wall crevice on top of said binding strip,with said shoulder while the other si e is in engagement with the wallat the upper side of the crevice. a v

6. In a roof flashing of the character described, the combination sheetsof pliable material, the upper ends whereof are provided with a metalstrip folded thereabout and the folded edge of the strip with the endsof the material bent upwardly to provide a shoulder; with a wedge memberof resilient sheet metal bent into V-shape adapted to be forced into awall crevice on arranged in lapping of the wedge member with one side inenga ement' of a plurality of wall to which'the flashi? r V of thecrevice.

I other :gideisin engagementwithrthe Wfii11fit therupper sideofthecreviceJ-f r 7 H7. 111 2, 1200fflashing,fiche combination0i;

' flashing materialmadaptdato have thevupr er-end insertedina wall'cfevice, the upper.

i1rfgde ofltha flashing adjacentthe' insert-- edlorigitudinabedgebeing-providedwith an upwardly-disposed portion ;-witha, wedge j Lmember composed of an elongated sforip of 1 V astifisheet:metal bentilongitnd-inally; 1nt0 V-' Q *ape 'and th upp er longitndinaLside'curl'edfi I upwardly, with the apex of the wedge (115-;- V; 7 posedinwardly? over the-upwardly; disposedl;

' portion of the; flashingso as to cause said Wedge; memberi ;t0 tiltupwardly and forcev "j '20 b ne: longitudinal edgenof each side of:thefi' member-into: gripping relationf with the flashing;and with-:theupper wall: of the crevic'a-f Y ions; I

LIONEL-V L V V

